Concentration Areas

Recreation Resource Management (RRM) addresses the complex issues of managing public park lands for the enjoyment of visitors while protecting cultural, historic and natural resources for future generations. All course work, projects and research is conducted from the perspective of the public lands manager working in public sectors such as federal, state and regional governments and not-for-profit organizations. Policy, planning, law enforcement, heritage interpretation, and resource/business/facilities management are addressed. Visitor management issues in heritage parks, ranging from vast wilderness areas to urban natural resource parks and open air history museums, are the focus of the Recreation Resource Management concentration. RRM students develop skills in negotiating and interfacing with the tourism industry, biologists, historians, archeologists, advocacy groups, politicians, and surrounding communities.

Travel and Tourism Management (T&T) is a complex industry that involves people and nations globally in the planning, development and transfer of economic, social, cultural and environmental resource, concepts and information. The course work, projects and research in travel and tourism management are conducted from the state, local, regional, national or international perspective and focus on businesses, tourists, residents, or the intermediaries involved in the tourist experience industry. Travel and tourism students develop skills in theory, research methodology and analysis for careers in academic, government, NGO and the private sectors. Specific research emphases of the program are in tourism marketing and business, information technology, nature-based/ecotourism, heritage tourism, ag-tourism, international tourism development, and poverty alleviation using tourism.

Community Recreation, Sport and Camp Management (CRSCM) is focused on increasing the quality of life of individuals across the lifespan as well as contributing to community development through the provision of quality recreation opportunities. Students will study through coursework and research how parks and recreation providers, both public and non-profit, at the local, state, regional, and national levels contribute to community development, economic development, quality of life, youth development, and health and wellness. Community recreation management students develop skills in theory, research methodology and analysis for careers in academic, government, and non-profit sectors. Specific research emphases of the program are in youth development, camp management, amateur sport, community development, health and wellness, benefits based management, programming, and staff development.

Therapeutic Recreation (TR) specialists typically work with individuals who have some type of cognitive, emotional, and/or physical limitation. For example, you may find therapeutic recreation specialists who work with hospitalized children who have cancer or are recovering from burns, adolescents and adults with psychiatric disorders, youth at-risk, older adults recovering from strokes or living with dementia, children and adults with developmental disabilities such as mental retardation, children and adults with physical impairments such as strokes or spinal cord injuries. Graduate students in the therapeutic recreation program will have an opportunity to pursue a variety of research topics. For example, recent projects have examined the therapeutic outcomes of horseback riding, recreation activities in families of children with autism, effects of recreation activities on residents of long-term care facilities, the role of ropes courses in enhancing self-determination, and the relationship of leisure constraints to selection, optimization and compensation.